The present invention relates to trolling motors, and more particularly to a mounting device for securing a trolling motor to a watercraft.
Watercraft, especially fishing boats, often employ a trolling motor. The trolling motor may be used to maneuver or to hold the watercraft in position while the vessel operator fishes. Trolling motors may be interconnected with the watercraft via a mount secured to the bow of the vessel. Often conventional bow mounts include a base plate and several movable arms, which are configured to retain the trolling motor and interlock with the base plate. The movable arms are generally configured to pivot between a stowed position, where the trolling motor is on-board the vessel, and a deployed operation position, where the trolling motor extends into the water.
Although many conventional pivoting bow mounts effectively stow and deploy trolling motors, the durability of the multiple pivoting joints used by the movable arms is limited. After a period of use, the joints of the bow mount may loosen and begin to develop play. This joint play causes the bow mount to rattle or make other unpleasant noises during the operation of the watercraft. With many conventional bow mounts, removing the trolling motor from or attaching the trolling motor to the mount also presents some inconvenience for the operator. This process is inconvenient because the conventional bow mount's actuation rope (which is used to lift and rotate the bow mount's movable arms from the stowed or deployed position) runs through the mount's movable arms and through the portion of the mount that is configured to couple with the trolling motor. In this configuration, the actuation rope must be untied from the interior of the bow mount's movable arms before the portion of the mount that couples with the trolling motor can be removed from the remainder of the mount.